Door pan clip



Oct. 23, 1962 B. A. sARAFiNAs DOOR PAN CLIP Filed Feb, 24, 19,60

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United States Patent O 3,059,299 j DOOR IAN CLIP Bruno A. Sarafinas, Saugus, Mass., assignor to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Delaware j I v Filed Feb. 24, 1960, Ser. No. 10,744

1 Claim. (Cl. 24--73) This invention aims to provide improvements in snap fastener secured applications particularly useful in the construction of refrigerators for household use.

An object of the invention is to provide a combination of parts, such as a refrigerator door, which includes a rice ` cant has found that a fastener with a torsional action frame, a panel, soft bumper structure and snap fasteners removably holding the parts together.

Most structures of this type now manufactured are held together by screws or bolts because it is important to hold the parts together in such a manner that they will not become separated by normal stresses and strains, such as may be brought into play when the door is slammed shut on a refrigerator body. There has been some tendency for screws to crack the plastic inner door panel. This is overcome by the construction of the present inven- ...cmtion because there is some flexibility due to the use of the snap fasteners.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

Referring now to the drawings:

lFIG. 1 is an inside -plan view of a corner portion of a refrigerator door with part of a bumper strip broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; l

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section similar to FIG. 3 but showing a different bumper construction and with a metal strip eli-minated;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2'

between the panel and frame of the door;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged edge view of an improved fastener;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged face view of the fastener shown in FIG. 6,; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the fastener shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring now to the combination of elements shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is illustrated a preferred construction of household refrigerator door str-ucture having a main body portion 1 of sheet metal formed to provide an inner frame structure 2 having spaced snap fastener stud receiving apertures 3.

The inside of the door is covered by a panel 4, preferably of plastic material, and it has apertures 5 spaced to be aligned with the apertures 3 (FIG. 3). A soft compressible bumper strip 6, of any suitable for-rn and cross section, is in overlying relation to the `panel and door frame adjacent the apertures 3 and 5.

In the construction of the bumper strip 6, illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is an inwardly underlying flange 7 and this ange is engaged by a strip 8 of metal also overlying the apertures 3 and 5, and having its own apertures 9 aligned with the others.

The improved snap fasteners for holding together the parts of the assembly described above are illustrated in the assembly drawings and more clearly in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. It has been found that ordinary types of Vsnap fasteners, heretofore known, will not hold the parts together when a door or like is slammed shut because they have a tendency to pop out of lthe apertures unless they are of the locking type that cannot be removed. Appliholds the parts together firmly and that fastener has a base 10 divided into two portions. The base 10 is conneoted by a shank 11 extending normal thereto and shaped to provide two legs, each connected to a separate portion of the base ll adjacent -to one side of the base and off center with relation to said base. Each leg has a relatively straight portion 12 of a length less than the total thickness of the parts to be secured by the fastener. There is also provided, on each leg, an outwardly tapered portion 13 with respect to the axis of the shank and each leg also has an inwardly extending portion 14 from a high point to the end of the shank vvhere the legs are joined by a nose portion 15.

Assembly of the door structure described above is accomplished by laying the parts one upon the other with the apertures 3, 5 and 9 in alignment and then, with the bumper strip turned back to expose the apertures, lthe snap fasteners are pushed into place and the bumper strip is released so that it Iwill cover the fasteners and assume the position shown in FIGS. l and 3.

The 'apertures 3 are of dimensions that the shank o-f each fastener is held under compression when properly in place and a torsion action takes effect on the legs due to the shape of the stud base 10. It will be noted from an inspection of FIGS. 7 and 8 that each portion of the base 10 has an angled projection 16 extending from the base in the same direction as the shank and that a projection 16 on one portion of the base underlies the other portion, thus maintaining the -base portions in contact at that side of the center of the base opposite the side where the legs join the base. Therefore, as the legs of the shank 11 move toward each other :for passage through the aperytures 3, 5 and 9, a torsional or twisting action takes place in the legs due to the leverage action caused by the abutting portions of the base at the projections 16-16, as

clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 5.

The final position of the legs of a fastener in an aperture 3 is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the twisting or torsional action is clearly shown. This provides a -better grip with the frame 2 and prevents the fastener from popping out or loosening when a door is slammed in use. The projections 16-116 `also act to prevent any -loosening of the engagement of t-he yfasteners by preventing the two portions of the base 10 from accidentally sliding into overlapping positions. This is important because ifA the base portions were forced into overlapping positions the legs of the base would not be in strong torsional gripping action with the .frame 2.

In FIG. 4, there is shown a similar door structure to that shown in FIG. 3 except that the holding strip 8 is omitted and a flange 17 of the bumper strip 18 is interposed between the frame 2 and the panel 4. In this case, apertures 19 are provided in the ange 17 and the fastener Shanks pass through the apertures '3, 19 and 5, thus holding the parts in assembly and making for a less expensive construction by elimination of the strip 8.

By arranging the base 10 and shank 11 of the fastener, as illustrated, it is possible to keep the area of the base to a minimum so that it may fit into a relatively small space and also permit using bumper strips of minimum Width while concealing the fasteners.

While there has been illustrated and described two embodiments of the invention, applicants invention is best defined by the following claim.

I claim:

A one-piece locking snap fastener member comprising a split base and a pair of shouldered yieldable shank elements extending therefrom, said :base having at least two portions, each of said shouldered shank elements in- Patented Oct. 23, 1962 tegral at one end with one of said connecting portions and integral at the other end -with each ot-her, said split base oiset from the axis of the area defined by said shank element, each of said portions having a free terminal end, each of said free terminal ends lhaving a projection extending from a portion thereof and in integral angular relationship therewith to prevent `the two portions of the base from overlapping and thereby also to cause a torsion Vaction of the shank when the snap fastener member is pushed into engagement ywith a support.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Shields June 26, 1945 Waara Sept. 5, 1950 Philipp July 3, 1951 Fields June 24, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS France Dec. 2, 1953 France Oct. 21, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,059,299 October 23, 1962 BrunoA. Sarafinas It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 3, line l, strike out nconnecting".

Signed and sealed this 19th day of March 1963.

(SEAL) Attest:

ESTON G. JOHNSON DAVID L. LADD O' Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

